Arthur's Choice
by Andromeda Fall
Summary: This time Morgana has new plan which involves breaking Arthur, and using the one's he loves to do so.


Arthur's Choice

A bead of sweat ran down his neck as he tensed once more, testing yet again the strength of the men holding him back. They barely even acknowledged his shift in stance, once again, he felt the rush of panic – he was trapped, and he could no longer deny that this was, in fact, happening. Biting the inside of his lip, he forced the beginnings of water from his eyes, and took a deep breath, as he finally managed to build up enough courage to lift his head.

His eyes immediately focused on the helpless figure on the floor to his left. His wrists were bleeding and raw where the manacles he was wearing had cut into them, and his shirt had been removed, showing off the full extent of his injuries. He was so thin that his ribs would easily have been able to be seen, were he not covered in a mixture of dried blood, and fresh blood still oozing from the magnitude of cuts and wounds that encompassed his whole body. Dark bruises hid the colour of his normally pale skin on his arms and neck, where someone had obviously taken a firm hold on the boy. As Arthur scrutinised his friend, Merlin shifted slightly, as if aware he was being watched, but he did not raise his head from its position on the cold floor, and he did not open his eyes. Maybe he no longer had the energy to do so.

Lowering his eyes away from his defeated friend, Arthur forced himself to focus his attention instead on the girl to his right. She was sitting on the cold stone floor, her wrists not in manacles like Merlin's, but instead tied in front of her with a length of coarse rope. Her hair was a mess, and there was a single cut on her arm, causing blood to drip down onto her normally cream coloured dress. Unlike Merlin, Gwen met Arthur's blue eyes, and the emotional pain in them almost made Arthur cry out.

Deprived of the ability to console either servant, Arthur once again brought his eyes to the floor in front of him. Oh, this had gone so horribly wrong. Worst rescue attempt ever. Not only had he allowed himself to get sufficiently separated from the knights that he knew no help was coming, but he had also managed to get himself captured. The cell they were in was deep under the enemy castle, with an excess of guards both inside and outside the room. Even if he were to get free, how was he supposed to fight them off with no weapon while trying to protect Gwen and rescue Merlin? And anyway, even if he did have his sword on him, he was pretty sure that the majority of the guards had magic; he would be useless anyway.

Once again lifting his head, this time he focused on the woman responsible for it all. Morgana stood in front of him, that frustrating smirk smeared on her face, as if she had just won nothing but a sibling argument. Out of desperation, he tried one more time to reach out to her.

'Morgana...I...can't...please...don't –'He was cut off from his pitiful begging however when she took a confidant step towards him, and grabbed his chin in her right hand.

'Oh, but you can. And you will. Come on the Arthur, aren't you supposed to be the brave king? One word and you can go. That's all. One. Small. Word.' She spoke as if talking to a three year old who had misbehaved, always with the smirk, the everlasting smirk. She knew she had won this time. She stepped back in satisfaction and watched him.

Unable to look at anyone in the room any longer, Arthur closed his eyes, and this time a tear did leak out. She was right; she had won, and he did have to make a decision. He didn't want to do this, maybe he wasn't as brave as everyone thought he was. He couldn't do this.

And yet, he knew, that the consequences of standing here doing nothing would be much worse for everyone. Not even bothering to open his eyes, he whispered the one small word that Morgana was waiting for – almost too quiet for anyone to hear, and yet everyone did.

'Guinevere'.

He heard the gasp that Gwen gave, and felt as the guards released him. He heard Morgana as she took one stride to reach the other end of the cell, as she roughly pulled Gwen up.

He finally opened his eyes when he heard Morgana tell Gwen, 'Congratulations'.

Gwen was now standing, her hands untied, and most of the guards had filtered out of the cell, leaving only Morgana with them. Arthur's eyes shifted to Merlin, to find that this time, Merlin was looking back. As blue eyes met blue eyes everything in Arthur broke. Merlin's eyes were so hazed in pain – both physical and emotional. His eyes watered and tears streamed down his face, and it looked like sitting up for him was an effort, but he kept his eyes linked to Arthur. They seemed to send a message, telling him it was fine, but for Arthur this just made him feel worse. In a sudden panic Arthur shouted out.

'No! Morgana...I change my mind...I can't...I take it back, I take it back!' But Morgana's grin only widened.

And then, in one fell swoop she pulled Merlin up and sank her dagger deep into his stomach.

He didn't cry out, he only let out a small gasp of pain. And then, as Morgana released him, he sank back to the floor and collapsed, once again closing his pain filled eyes.

Morgana left the cell. No smart comments were needed from her, she had done her worst.

Neither Gwen nor Arthur moved, even though they were now both free to go. The only sounds in the cell were the heavy breathing of both Gwen and Arthur. But not of Merlin. Merlin was no longer breathing.

They stood for a long time. And then, a noise was heard in the distance of swords clanging and knights fighting. A few minutes later Gwaine stormed into the room, swords swinging, ready for a fight and a rescue. He was followed by Percival, Leon and Eylan all ready for a fight.

'Nooo! Merlin...can you hear me, Merlin, MERLIN!' Gwaine had no reserves as he ran to his friend and held his body, screaming as loud as he could, tears streaming down his face. And when it became clear it was too late he turned his anger towards Arthur.

'You did this! You were supposed to save him! You did this!'

But everyone in the room knew, even before Arthur's response, that this time Morgana truly had won. She had done the cruellest thing she possibly could. She didn't need to kill Arthur anymore – she had already done worse, instead she had broken him. Completely.

Bringing his eyes to meet Gwaine, Arthur answered his accuser with just two words, softly spoken.

'I know'.


End file.
